Saturday, November 7, 2015

The Angels Franchise Deep Four

I'm back with the first expansion franchise in this series, the multi-locale-named Angels. Due to a history half a century shorter than the classic American League franchises, I decided to limit this to a Deep Four, rather than the traditional six. And funny enough, even then it felt like I was scraping the bottom of the barrel with a few of these guys. Let's take a look:


PC1B2B3BSSLFCFRF
1stChuck FinleyBob BooneWally JoynerBobby GrichTroy GlausJim FregosiGarret AndersonMike TroutTim Salmon
2ndFrank TananaMike NapoliRod CarewHowie KendrickChone FigginsErick AybarBrian DowningJim EdmondsVladimir Guerrero
3rdNolan RyanLance ParrishAlbert PujolsAdam KennedyDoug DeCincesDavid EcksteinRick ReichardtGary PettisKole Calhoun
4thJered WeaverBengie MolinaDarin ErstadBobby KnoopKen McMullenDick SchofieldLeon WagnerTorii HunterLeroy Stanton


I'm surprised that Frank Tanana ended up ahead of the great Nolan Ryan, but it seemed that he had the slight edge. Chuck Finley was underrated, but he's the ultimate Angels pitcher.

Right field was interesting for two reasons: One, that Tim Salmon ended up ahead of possible Hall of Famer Vlad Guerrero, and two, the large dropoff after the 2nd Team. Kole Calhoun hasn't even been around that long and he's already on the 3rd Team.

Catcher was surprisingly tough. Bob Boone ended up on the 1st Team, but he's not overly impressive a choice. Mike Napoli was tough to put on the 2nd Team only because he was never more than a part-time player, but his numbers spoke loudly. When will the Angels ever have a truly awesome catcher?

Who'd have thought that Wally Joyner would end up ahead of two Hall of Famers at first base? While Pujols and Carew had greater careers, when only their work with the Angels is considered, Wally World edges them out, at least for now. Pujols still has a long contract ahead of him to perhaps take the lead, but he is in the decline phase of his career, so...yeah.

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